CIE Components in Electronics
Peregrine Semiconductor, a fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RF ICs), is expanding its family of MultiSwitch STeP8 dual single-pole, seven throw (SP7T/SP7T) UltraCMOS antenna switches which have been optimised to handle the significant carrier aggregation challenges of 4G mobile wireless applications as adopted by leading RF front-end module suppliers. The PE42128x devices have been designed to support simultaneous multi-band operation of up to 14 frequency bands while delivering exceptional linearity, insertion loss performance and small size.
“Peregrine’s UltraCMOS process looks to bring innovative solutions to a highly complex and ever-increasing set of challenges in the RF front-end,” said Jim Cable, CEO of Peregrine Semiconductor. “Our vision has always been to enable the wireless industry to solve the most critical RF demands. Emerging LTE-Advanced Smartphone platforms require a unique combination of RF performance achievements that, we believe, only UltraCMOS technology can bring,” he added.
The LTE-A protocol calls for carrier aggregation – or the simultaneous reception of multiple frequency bands – which improves data delivery speed to dramatically improve consumer experience. Peregrine’s new PE42128x antenna switches are designed specifically to solve the challenges of carrier aggregation. Each of the new MultiSwitch devices features a combination of two SP7T switches in a single IC to support 14 different frequency bands including simultaneous multiband operation.
With HaRP technology enhancements, the PE42128x devices deliver high linearity with an IIP3 of +75 dBm, as well as extremely low insertion loss (0.35dB @ 900MHz; and 0.45 at 1900 MHz) and high isolation (38 dB at 698-2170 MHz; and 33 dB at 2500-2690 MHz). The switches also feature industry-leading 2fo and 3fo for LTE of less than -80 dBm at 700 MHz. High linearity and isolation performance are critical in LTE-Advanced Smartphones to ensure that radio signals don’t spill into other bands during multi-band operation.
